Grain-elevator



(No Model.)

W. WATSON.

GRAIN- ELEVATOB.l

No. 287.595. Patented 001;. so, 1883.-

2%. xffwf s UNITED STATES WILLIAM wnrson, or MEMPHIs'rENNEssEE.

PATENT OFFICE.

` GRAlN-ELE'VATOR.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 287,595, dated October EQ, 1883.

` Application tiled March-30,1'883. (No'model.) Y Y To all whom it may concern:

. Be it known` that I, WILLIAM WATSON, of Memphis, inthe county of Shelby kand State of Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Grain-Elevators; and

tomary in the construction of grain-elevators.

to have the belt which carries the buckets arranged in what are called ".legs,77 one'for each side of the endless belt, or, in other words, one for the ascending and the other for the de.

' scending portion ofthe belt and buckets, said legs resting at their lower ends in the sinks or receptacles from which the grain lis to be elevated, and extending therefrom clear upv to the upper wheel orpulley of the elevator-belt. Among the most serious objections to this heretofore-practiced mode of construction are,

'30 the liability of one or'both of the boxlike portions of the elevator-leg to get sprung out of place by the settling of the building and unequal pressure ofthe grain in the bins through which said boxes pass, the consequent liability of fire from the friction from the back of the belt on the box,when the latter may get sprung out of place, the expense. and difficulty of properly bracing the box-like portions of the elevator-legs, and the necessity for having 40 the roof of the cupola considerably higher than would otherwise be necessary, in order to permit the inevitable settling of the crib-work relatively to the elevator-legs, (which usually retain their original height.) I propose to overcome all these serious difficulties, and at the same time provide for use a grain-elevator which shall in other respects be much more desirable than anyheretofore made; and to these main ends and objects my invention con- 5O sist-s in the novel devices and combinations of upperv end of said trunk-like device.

devices involved in my improved construction explained, and particularly pointed out and specified in the claims of this application.

To enable those skilled in the art to Vwhich my invention relates to understand and practice the same, I will now proceed to more fully describe the same, referring by letters of reference to the accompanying drawings,'which make part of this specificatiomand in which I have-illustrated so much of a grain-elevator building as is necessary to be shown for the purpose of fully explaining my improvements. l In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical partial section of a grain-elevator made according tomy invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section at the line a: x of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is ak similar section at the line y y of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a similar section at the line z z of Fig. 1.

In the several figures the same parts of ythe contrivance will be found designated by the same letter ofreference.

A represents the short trunk-like device, which extends from the boot B of the elevator proper' up to and slightly beyond the ceiling lof grain-elevator, and more `fully hereinafter n of the rst story ofthe building, from which point (or, in other Words, from the second floor of the building) extends upwardly in line With said trunk-like device a box or vertical open space, C, formed within the bin-space or storage'portion of the building, and of about the same size and shape in cross-section as the The upper end of the trunk-like device A is adapted to fit and slide, when necessary, telescopically` within the lower end'of'the space C, as clearly illustrated, andv from the interior surface of the wallsof said space C depends a sort of apron or overhanging device, D, made of any suitable material, and so arranged, as shown, that its lower edge will overhang and pass' downwardly slightly within the upper end of the trunk-like device A, the length ofjsaid apronlike device D being such as to permit the settling down. around the trunk device of the storageportion ofthe building to the greatest extent which can possibly occur during the use of the elevator-building.

It vwillbe understood that theuse of thei IOC devices just alluded to, arranged as shown, 'a sort of slip-j oint connection is formed between the upper end of the trunk-like device A and the lower end of the space or box-like opening C, which in reality forms a continuation of the trunk. The box-like space C extends upwardly through the entire height of the storage portion or bins of the structure, and immediately over its upper open end is arranged another trunk-like device, E, which rests upon the top floor of the storage-compartments, (or upon the top of that bin in which happens to be formed the open space 0,) said trunk-like device E extending upwardly past the upper pulley and end portion of the bucketed belt of the elevator proper.

F and G are respectively the lower and upper pulleys or wheels, over which passes the endless belt H, which carries the buckets I, said pulleys being mounted to turn freely on their axes, and operating substantially in the we1l-known manner. It will be seen that by the arrangement of the belt H within the trunk-like devices, and the space C, which forms a connection between said trunk-like devices, instead of having said belt arranged with its ascending and descending portions in separate boxes or wooden tubes, all possible danger from frictional contact of the back faces or adjacent surfaces of the belt H is entirely avoided, and that therefore the building can never take iire from this usually fruitful source of combustion. In the novel construction shown and described, there being no small long tubes for the accommodation ofthe ascending and descending portions ofthe belt, all the liability of the case containing the belt getting out of plumb or out of position is entirely avoided, and all the usual necessary braces for holding in place such tubes are entirely dispensed with.

The entire building being free to settle down around the upper end of the lower trunk-like device, by reason of the sort of slip-joint arrangement shown and described, there is no liability of the said lower trunk-like device and the space or box C getting out of line, although if they should do so slightly no serious consequence would follow,inas1nuch as the belt of the elevator would not, in any such event, be likely to scrape or rub against any portion of either the said trunk-like device or the said box C, and by having the upper trunklike device supported by the top iioor of the building or on top of the cribwork,of course the upper end of said trunk-like device, together with the upper pulley of the elevator proper and its supporting frame-work, will all settle or descend together, and hence there is no necessity,iuthc construction of the building, for having the roof of the cupola any higher than is suiiicient merely to clear the uppermost fixtures ofthe elevator-legs. By this feature of myinventionthe building maybe made considerably lower, and consequently may be constructed at less cost, while equally as desirable as or more desirable than the more expensive structures which it has been heretofore necessary to make.

Of course the details of construction, aswell as the sizes and proportions of the parts shown and described, may be varied more less, according to surrounding circumstances and the judgment of the skilled constructer, without departing from the spirit of my invention, the main features of which, it will be seen, consist, essentially, in the use of a continuous open space or box-like compartment, extending from the elevator-boot up to the upper end of the elevator proper, that is large enough in crosssection to encompass both the ascending and descending portions of the elevator-belt and its buckets, thusleaving an entirely open space between the walls or wooden surfaces, so to speak,which lie near to the outer or bucketed portions of the belts; also, in having that portion of said single space which is constructed and located withinthe crib-work of the structure separate from, and capable of settling down around, the lower trunk-like device referred to, for the purposes explained; also, in having the upper trunk-like portion, together with the upper pulley and its supports, all arranged to descend with the crib-work and the roof of the cupola supported thereon, so as to avoid the necessity of allowing, at the time of construct-n ing the building, for any movement of the roof of the cupola relatively to the upper end of the elevator-leg.

The apron-like device arranged at the vicinity of the slip-joint union between the upper end of the lower trunk-like device and the lower end of the space or box G is necessary, of course,to avoid the possibility of the entrance into the said joint of any falling grain, dirt, or other matter which might operate to clog or otherwise injuriously affect the devices, which are designed to work freely together.

rlhose familiar with the construction and use of grain-elevators will of course understand that great advantage is gainedby my improvements in the particular of eliminating out of the structure one of the heretofore most dangerous sources of fire from frictional contact of the backs and edges of the elevator-belts with their wooden casings,when the latter may have gotten sprung or warped, or the belts may have gotten so loose as to sway and strike against the sides of said case.

Having now so fully explained the several features of my novel construction of elevators, whatI claim as my invention, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a grain-elevator, the combination, with the bucketed belt for lifting the grain, of a single surrounding chamber or case suiiiciently large to contain both the ascending and descending portions of the belt, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. In combination with a storage-space or crib-work elevated above the foundation or ground-surface of the building, a trunk-like device arranged with its base at the boot of the IOO IIO

287.595 l l t f* *Y 3 elevator-leg, anclwth its upper end adapted fl; In combination with theeompartnient C and the lower trunk-like device, A, an apron 'arranged and operating substantially in the manner and for the purposes speeied.

In testimony whereof Ihave hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal this 26th day of February, 1883. p

y WILLIAM WATSON. [L s] In presence of F. P. PosToN,

D. H. PosToN. 

